Oooft. In news that is sure to cause a great deal of consternation in the party room, the latest Newspoll shows that the Coalition‘s primary vote has dropped below 40 percent for the first time since Malcolm Turnbull became leader. For a smidgen of perspective, it’s now lower than it was when Tony Abbott was booted to the curb in 2015. Yowza.
Labor is ahead on the two-party-preferred stakes too, with Newspoll pegging them at 52 percent to the Coalition’s 48. Not all is lost for them, however: Turnbull is still preferred PM, even though less than a third of voters thing he’s doing a good job.
According to Newspoll, it is the it is “the quickest decline in primary vote by a re-elected government in the 32-year history” of the poll.
Look, it’s not going so well for Turnbull. Conservatives absolutely hate him ever since he knifed Abbott, and the kind of moderate, socially progressive Libs who are exemplified by his electorate of Wentworth probably aren’t keen on how readily he kowtows to the right wing of his party on issues like the marriage equality plebiscite or climate change.
The latest Newspoll shows the coalition’s worst result since @TurnbullMalcolm became leader. #9Today https://t.co/BrMNn2LiEk
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) September 26, 2016
It’s pretty unlikely that the party would actually move to unseat him right now – it would echo the ultimately awful decision of Labor to play musical chairs with the leadership – but damn. He gotta be sweating.
Here’s the morose kind of mood on Sky News as they discussed Turnbull’s continuing plummet in the polls:
.@SkyNewsRicho says @TurnbullMalcolm has to start improving in the polls at some point #auspol https://t.co/1lvKvEiIsY
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 26, 2016
Source: The Australian.
Photo: Getty Images.
